1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the detection of beet sugar in food products. More particularly, the present invention relates to an immunoassay directed to the detection of beet sugar in food products and a kit to effect such an immunoassay.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beet sugar is a relatively pure, multi-use food composed almost totally of sucrose. Its sweetness and relative cost make it a useful additive to a number of commercially available food stuffs to enhance flavor and desirability.
Considering the purity of beet sugar, e.g., 99.96% (McGinnis, R. A., "Juice Purification" in Beet Sugar Technology, R. A. McGinnis Ed., Chapter 7, pp. 155-84 (1982)), and the fact that sucrose from beets is chemically identical to sucrose from apples and oranges, beet sugar has also been used as an adulterant of various food products, especially juices.
Adulteration of juice products creates an economic burden on producers who honestly, and with quality in mind, endeavor to produce the best product possible. Besides the competitive profit edge afforded adulterators, honest producers who purchase juice concentrates need a way of discerning adulterated juice from natural products so as not to be legally responsible for the purchase of adulterated material. However, as previously noted, the high purity of beet sugar and the inability to discriminate sucrose from beets from sucrose from other plant sources, such as apples and oranges, has rendered this a formidable task.